


Civilian

by Areghano



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Brotherhood of Steel (Fallout), Drinking to Cope, Drug Use, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-02-07 11:36:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12840330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areghano/pseuds/Areghano
Summary: “Soldier boy,” Danse turned around to face Nora, “I need you to do me a favor.”Danse sighed, “what have you gotten yourself into this time?”Nora took a deep breath and said, “I need you to be Shaun’s dad.” He gave her a puzzled look. Without him saying anything, Nora knew she needed to explain. “Shaun asked why the kids in the brotherhood all have dads and he doesn’t. I just got the kid back, I can’t tell him his dad died trying to protect him.” Nora knew he wasn’t the same Shaun, but she was determined to treat him as if he were.Danse had already heard the story of what happened to Nate. How he was shot for refusing to give Shaun to Kellogg. He saw the desperation in her eyes when Nora talked about Shaun. She wanted to have a normal life with the son she lost. Without hesitation, Danse answered, “okay.”“C’mon, please, Danse. I--” she paused, “wait, did you just say ‘okay’?”He nodded, “but I’m not doing it for you, I’m doing it for the kid.”





	1. Chapter 1

   "Congratulations on the promotion, Sentinel," Nora heard this multiple times on her way back through the Prydwen. Still angry about Elder Maxson's order to cut ties with Danse, she was fully suited up in power armor and feeling reckless. She jumped from the side of the ship just as she had when she was first promoted to Knight and given her armor. Then, of course, she was immediately punished for her "childish behavior" and forced to clean Scribe Nariah's animal cages. She ran all the way back to the Red Rocket station by Sanctuary, where she had recently built shacks for herself and her closest friends: Piper, Cait, MacCready, Curie, Hancock, Dogmeat, Preston, and, of course, Paladin Danse.

   People certainly started to notice that there were 8 people and only 7 shacks. There was no way to hide that Nora and Danse had been a little more than friends after they started traveling together, but it never strayed further than the occasional flirty comment from Nora and an eye-roll from Danse. It was quite a risky move building a shared shack. Nora would have to wait for his reaction due to the fact that he was still cooped up in the bunker. Nora stepped out of her power armor at the repair stand and flopped down on her double bed in pure exhaustion. She felt a light poke on her face. She opened her eyes and saw Shaun. Not the real Shaun, but the synth Shaun from the Institute. "Mom? Why are you so tired?"

   She sat up and hugged her son. "Oh, sweetheart. I'm so glad you made it here safely from the Prydwen. You didn't run into any trouble did you?"

   "No, the nice Proctor lady let me ride on a vertibird! It was so cool seeing the Commonwealth from that high up!" Nora laughed internally at calling Proctor Ingram "nice". If only you saw her on a normal day.

   "That's great, hun," Piper walked in and was leaning on the door frame. She had a devious look on her face. "Why don't you go ask Curie for a science lesson? Mommy will be right in here if you need me." He nodded and ran out of the shack. "What have you done, Pipes?"

   Piper's expression changed to that of an innocent child, "you mean lil ole' me? I think the question you should be asking is what have **you** done, Blue."

   "What the hell are you talking about?"

   "Eight people, seven shacks, one of them significantly bigger with a double bed and two power armor stations? You just love lying to yourself." Nora chose to avoid the accusations.

   "I have to go. If anyone asks, I'll be back tomorrow."

   As Nora was making her way out the gate she'd built, Piper yelled to her, "you just told your son you were staying."

   "His dad can-" she realized what she was saying just moments too late. His dad couldn't watch him. Nate died the day she lost Shaun.

   Piper, too, noticed this mistake, "you fucked up, Blue."

   Shaun ran up to Nora, "mom, where is my dad? The squires in the Brotherhood had dads, why don't I?"

   She sighed and bent down to Shaun's level, "sweetie, I have to get someone and bring them back home, where they belong. Can we talk about this when I get back?" He nodded and ran back to Curie to finish his lesson.

    It was almost dark by the time she made it to the bunker. She first checked the area to be sure it was clear once she and Danse left. The old elevator took her into the bunker where she found Danse in a sparkling new suit of X-01 power armor. You have got to be kidding me. This man can't be without his armor for a second. “Soldier boy,” Danse turned around to face Nora, “I need you to do me a favor.”

 

Danse sighed, “what have you gotten yourself into this time?”

 

Nora took a deep breath and said, “I need you to be Shaun’s dad.” He gave her a puzzled look. Without him saying anything, Nora knew she needed to explain. “Shaun asked why the kids in the brotherhood all have dads and he doesn’t. I just got the kid back, I can’t tell him his dad died trying to protect him.” Nora knew he wasn’t the same Shaun, but she was determined to treat him as if he were.

 

Danse had already heard the story of what happened to Nate. How he was shot for refusing to give Shaun to Kellogg. He saw the desperation in her eyes when Nora talked about Shaun. She wanted to have a normal life with the son she lost. Without hesitation, Danse answered, “okay.”

 

“C’mon, please, Danse. I--” she paused, “wait, did you just say ‘okay’?”

 

He nodded, “but I’m not doing it for you, I’m doing it for the kid.” Danse always had a soft spot for kids. One time at the Prydwen, before he was banished, of course, Nora caught Danse letting one of the squires wear his power armor helmet. The innocent smile on his face was unlike any expression she usually saw on Danse. Nora threw her arms around his armor.

 

“Thank you, Danse. I’ll make it up to you I promise.” Danse wasn’t very fond of affection, but he let Nora hug him for a minute. She let go of him and smiled brightly. A slight smile crept across Danse’s face.

 

“God, she has a contagious smile,” Danse thought to himself. He shook the thought away, like he had every personal thought about Nora. She was a good soldier and a good partner, nothing more. Danse knew he was lying to himself. He had told Nora she was like a best friend to him after she saved his life. What he hadn’t told her, however, was the thoughts he had about her that were a bit more than friendly. “Well, civilian, we should get going.”

 

Nora’s smile faded and she laughed, “Danse, you can’t call me that, I’m a sentinel now.” His eyes widened as she turned around and walked back into the elevator. “Well, get your jaw off the ground and c’mon.” He got in the elevator with her, still shocked.

 

“I can’t believe it,” Danse said as they were walking back to Red Rocket, “He made you a sentinel after a few months and I was only a paladin for years? And I was a knight for years before that.”

“I think Maxson was just jealous because all the girls in the Brotherhood think you’re hotter.”

 

“Hilarious, civilian.” They walked silently for a few more minutes before Danse spoke up again, “did any of them actually say that?”

 

“Well, I didn’t ask, but I sure think you are.” They looked at each other and Nora winked. The rest of the trip went by without a word and they got back to Red Rocket in the late morning. Nora opened the gates and Danse slowly entered, in awe of the settlement.

 

“You’ve sure put a lot of work in since I left, haven’t you.”

 

Nora shrugged, “I guess. There’s still a lot to be done.” Before either of them could say anything, Shaun ran up and Nora bent down to his level to give him a hug.  


“Hey mom, where’d you go? I was worried you got hurt or something.”

 

“I told you I had to bring someone home,” she gestured to Danse. “Shaun, this is--”

 

Danse cut her off and bent down to the boy’s level also, “I’m your dad, buddy.”

 

Shaun’s eyes widened and he grinned wildly. To Danse’s surprise, Shaun wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. The others gathered around and Nora got a lot of confused looks. She held a finger to her mouth, signalling for everyone to keep their mouths shut. She mouthed the words, “I’ll explain later” and everyone went back to their own business. “Shaun, sweetie, why don’t you let your dad get settled in.” It felt weird for Nora to call anyone Shaun’s dad who wasn’t Nate.

 

“Okay mom, it’s nice to finally meet you dad.” He happily ran off and started playing with Dogmeat.

 

“Thanks again for doing this, Danse. It means a lot to me and I think Shaun already likes you.” She started walking with Danse toward the largest of all the shacks. “You’re a way better actor than I thought.”

 

Danse hopped out of his armor at the empty stand and stretched. “Don’t mention it. Like I said, it’s for the kid.” He pulled at the tight collar of the Brotherhood uniform.

 

“There’s some salvaged clothes in the dresser over there, if you want something more comfortable.” She pointed to a dresser in the corner and leaned up against the wall as he changed. She couldn’t help but watch. He was clearly a soldier, he had a broad back and biceps as big around as one of Nora’s thighs. Without making a sound, Piper stood in the doorway.

 

“You done starin’, Blue?” Nora was startled back to reality. “I’ve gotta say, you couldn’t have done better with a fake dad for Shaun.”

 

“Damn it, Piper keep your voice down.” Piper and Nora were friends, but Piper loved giving her a hard time. “Tell everyone I’m having a meeting in the garage. And make sure Shaun keeps playing with the dog.” Piper nodded and walked out.

 

Danse turned around, pulling down his shirt. “That reporter, she’s gonna cause someone some real trouble one of these days.”

 

“Yeah, she’s kinda famous for causing trouble. I think she’s still pissed at me for bringing the Brotherhood to power.” Danse looked offended. “She just doesn’t know them like we do. She calls us the “lesser of evils, but still evil.’ Come with me to that meeting, you’re one of us now.”

 

“I’m not so sure I’m ‘one of you.”

 

“What, are you gonna go back to the Prydwen?” Danse gave her one of his famous eyerolls, “let’s go soldier boy.” He followed her to the garage filled with the other settlers.

 

Cait was the first one to speak up, to no one’s surprise, “okay, what the f*ck is going on here? Why did the little one come up to me and say Danse was his dad?”

 

Everyone started talking at once, asking questions about the situation. Nora tried to get everyone’s attention, but without her power armor, she was just a small woman in a blue jumpsuit. Danse finally got tired of everyone talking over Nora and got their attention, “everyone, shut the hell up!” They all got quiet once he raised his voice.

 

“Thank you Danse.” She turned to the mini crowd, “You all know what happened to Nate, so you should all know why I don’t want Shaun to have to know the truth. Is it selfish of me to lie to him, hell yes. Am I gonna do it anyway, hell yes. Now if anyone has any problems with what I tell **my** kid, speak up now.” For the first time, there was silence among the group. “Good, now you guys can get back to whatever the hell it is you do.” They all dispersed and left the garage.

 

Nora let out a deep sigh, “it’s like I have 8 kids, not just Shaun.”

 

Danse put his arm on her shoulder reassuringly, “you did good, soldier.”

 

She quickly went back to her sarcastic ways, “soldier? Don’t you mean civilian?”

 

“Don’t get cocky, wise ass. You’re still a civilian to me.”

 

“There’s the Dansey I’ve come to love.”

  



	2. Chapter 2

That evening, Nora was reading a prewar magazine in bed and Danse was cleaning his power armor when Shaun ran in. “Mom, dad, look at what I made!” He had a small box in his hand, he opened the box for Nora to see and inside was a small mechanical part.

 

“What is it, sweetie?” Nora wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at. Danse walked over and he too, was puzzled by the small part.

 

“It’s a scope for your gun!” He handed the scope to his mother who then got her trusty laser rifle from its hooks on the wall. To Nora’s surprise, and Shaun’s excitement, it clipped perfectly onto the top of the gun.

 

“Wow, kid, that’s really cool.” Danse seemed amazed that a kid so young could put something like a weapon mod together. “Who taught you how to do that?”

 

Shaun was deep in thought as he tried to remember, “hmm, I don’t know. I’ve just known this stuff for as long as I can remember.” Danse and Nora both knew this was most likely from being a synth. “I’m gonna go work on my next project!” He excitedly raced out of the shack and went back to work.

 

Danse let out a slight laugh, “that kid, he’s really growing on me.”

 

“Awe, Danse. You wear all that armor and pretend to be a bad*ss, but really, you’re just a big softy. Who knew you had feelings?” Danse’s face suddenly became much sadder, and he looked down. “Aw, hell. Danse, you know I didn’t mean it like--”

 

He cut her off with an anger she’d never seen before from him, “oh, just because I’m a synth means I don’t have feelings? Is that it, Nora?” His voice was raised, and Nora was sure everyone could hear him.

 

“Hey, Paladin Dense,” Nora’s voice became hushed, “in case you forgot, my f*cking son is a synth.” Tears welled in her eyes, she wasn’t sad, she just cried when she got really angry.

 

Danse sighed, “I’m sorry, Nora. It’s just, hard for me to cope with being something I spent my entire life loathing.” She wasn’t giving in. If she was to be known for one thing, it would be her deadly accuracy, or her ability to hold grudges. He slowly walked over to her, “really, I’m sorry.” With a quick kiss to her forehead, Danse left the shack.

 

Nora heard, only a few seconds after Danse walked out, Shaun yell to his dad. She sat on the edge of her bed and rubbed her eyes. Trying to get her mind off what had just happened, she realized that in her “family size shack” there was no space for Shaun. Nora stood up and went into the garage to her workbench. She built a small room off of her shack and put some things Shaun would need. Like a bed, and a light. She also put in a weapons workbench so he wouldn’t have to fight everyone else to use the one outside. Shaun quickly went to work at his new station and Nora was pleased with her work.

 

Without making a sound, Danse had walked up behind her and placed his chin on the top of her head. “You’re a good mom you know.”

 

Jumping a little, Nora replied, “I’ve only been one for a day. Well, a few months and a day. Counting before the war. You know I’ve almost lost him twice now?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“When Shaun was a baby, he got really sick with something. He had to stay at Milton General for almost a month. And Nate,” she chuckled dryly, “the poor man, he stayed with me and the baby every single day of it. He would bring me food while I stayed by Shaun’s crib. I was so afraid that if I left, even for a second, I would lose my baby.” Nora was smiling even though she was on the verge of tears. Remembering Nate always made her like this.

 

Danse held her shoulders and turned her to face him, “you don’t have to worry anymore. He’s safe here, with us. I won’t let anything happen to him.” She smiled wider, and pulled him into a tight hug. “Will you finally forgive me now?”

 

“Get me some flowers and I’ll think about it.”

 

This time Danse laughed, “you got it, boss.”

 

Ruining the sweet moment, Piper walked up. “Hey there, Blue.” She leaned in closer, “how long are you two lovebirds gonna lie to the kid?”

 

Unsure about how to feel about being called “lovebirds,” Nora pulled away from Danse. “Piper, why does it matter so much to you?”

 

“‘Cause, the kid’s a synth. You should know, Miss. Brotherhood of Steel Sentinel, just how unpredictable they’re kind can be.”

 

Danse had to bite his tongue to prevent saying anything he would regret. Nora took a step closer to Piper, “back off, Pipes. I can raise my own son.”

 

Backing down and taking a step back, Piper held her hands up in defeat. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you when he finally figures out and decides to kill us all.” She walked away, leaving the two upset.

 

“Why does she get on your case like that, aren’t you in charge around here?” Danse finally spoke his mind to Nora.

 

“No one is really ‘in charge,’ everyone just kinda does their own thing.”

 

“Well, she should at least show some respect. You did build this place practically from the ground up for her and the others.” Danse left to help Shaun with his new project, leaving Nora, yet again, alone with her thoughts.

 

Nora decided to grab some food for her, Shaun and Danse. She found Hancock by the cooking fire with some cans of Cram next to him. “Mind if I swipe a few of them?”

 

“Not at all,” he replied in a hoarse, radiation burned voice. “I was gonna cook enough for everybody anyways.”

 

“Thanks,” Nora picked up three cans, “say, you didn’t crush up any Mentats into these again, did ya?”

 

“‘Course not. At least, not in yours.”

 

“Sounds good, see you later, Hancock.” She went back to her shack and cooked the canned meat on the stove. Every shack had one, Hancock claimed he just prefered being outside.

 

Danse walked in and inhaled deeply through his nose, “what’s cookin’, good lookin’?” He stumbled over to her and hugged her from behind.

 

“Jesus, Danse, are you drunk?” She could smell alcohol on his breath without even turning around.

 

“Not drunk,” he hiccupped, proving himself to be a liar, “just had a few drinks with Cait.”

 

“Cait? I thought she was clean.” After everything Nora went through to get her friend clean, the vault, the treatment chair, the constantly avoiding chems and alcohol when they travelled together, why would Cait throw it away?

 

“I don’t know nothin’ about all that. I just know you’re looking hotter than that stove.” Danse was acting like an entirely different person. Nora decided not to say anything about it right then, he was a grown a*s man after all.

 

“Oh, please. I’m a mess.” Her long, light brown hair was pulled out of her face into a sloppy bun, and her clothes were nothing special either. She was wearing a light blue jumpsuit she found in a cabinet in the Red Rocket office.

 

Danse scoffed and walked to the bed. He took Nora’s newly scoped laser rifle off the wall and inspected it. “Is this the gun I gave you back in Cambridge?”

 

“Yeah,” she gently took it from his hands and put it back on the wall, “I use it whenever I have something real important to do. The rest of the time I just use this old thing.” She pulled out the bull revolver she looted from Kellogg after she killed him. She holstered her weapon and grabbed Danse’s arm. “You should sit down, you look like you’re gonna fall.”

 

He pushed her away sluggishly, “I’m fine. I can’t believe you kept that gun.” He seemed to be being sincere at first, “you must loooove me.”

 

Nora laughed and decided to play into his drunken acts. “Oh, d*mn. You caught me Danse. I’ve been in love with you since I wiped out those ghouls for you at the police station. I took one look at your smug, condescending face and knew you were the guy for me.”

 

“C’mon, I can tell you’re joking. Whatever, you may not love me but I love you.” Nora was speechless to his confession. “I didn’t think machines could have feelings, but I sure have a lot of ‘em for you.”

 

“You sure are wasted,” she walked to the fridge and grabbed a purified water for him to drink to try to sober up a little. “Here, drink this.”

 

He took a long drink from the can and his gaze met Nora’s. “I may be f*cked up but I mean it. I love you, Nora.”

 

She hushed him and helped him lay down. He was so drunk, he fell asleep almost instantly.

 

“Oh Danse,” she softly mumbled, “what am I gonna do with you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please give feedback or any constructive criticism as I am still a young writer and have a metric fuck ton to learn


	3. Chapter 3

Nora eventually fell asleep next to Danse as he slept it off. When she woke up, she expected to find Danse next to her, but the sheets were empty and warm. She sat up on the squeaking spring mattress, and stretched her arms. “He must have just gotten up,” Nora said with a yawn. She stood up and stretched once more. From her dresser, she pulled out her Vault 111 jumpsuit and changed into it. She tied her hair back into a ballerina bun and put on the green hat she had gotten from MacCready.

As she walked out the splintered wooden door, she saw Danse coming in through the main gate. “You’re up early, soldier boy. How’s that hangover treating you?” With how wasted he was the night before, Nora expected he would be dealing with a nasty headache.

“Just fine, civilian.” Danse moved his hands from behind his back and he was holding a bouquet of hubflowers. The dull blue flowers brightly contrasted against his dark shirt. “You said you’d forgive me if I got you flowers.” He looked down with a shy expression. Danse surprised her every day.

She took the flowers and kissed Danse’s cheek, “that’s sweet but I was just kidding.”

He jokingly tried to take the flowers back, “well in that case…” they both laughed. Nora remembered what Danse had said the night before. How could she forget? He professed his love to her, and she still wasn’t entirely sure if she believed it. She looked down and tried to avoid Danse’s eyes. 

“About last night…” Danse immediately knew what she was talking about and looked at the ground, kicking up dust as a nervous sort of fidget.

“Look, I’m sure I was being a complete ass and I’m sorry if I embarrassed you or myself. Honestly, though, I don’t remember anything after Cait pulled out the second bottle of whiskey.”    

“Wait, you don’t remember any of it?” Nora knew she could use this to her advantage to mess with Danse. He shook his head, confirming that he was too wasted to know what he was saying. “Then you must not have meant what you said.”

“What did I say?” Danse’s chocolate brown eyes suddenly filled with worry.

“You just wouldn’t shut up about how much you loooove me.”

Nora expected him to either get embarrassed or come back with something witty, like he always did. What she got, however, was much different. “Well, I guess there’s no use in denying it. I do love you, Nora.” Nora was taken back by this confession.

“Hilarious, Danse.” She was sure he wasn’t serious. Danse was far too professional to have feelings for her.

“I mean it.” The sincerity in his voice confused her. He didn’t stutter or falter or trip up even once. Was there a chance he was being honest? “I knew there was something different about you from when you saved my team and I at the police station. A sort of-” he paused, searching for the right term, “grace that you don’t see in these wastelanders.”

Nora was speechless, “Danse, I- I don’t know what to say.”

“Then don’t say anything. I couldn’t expect you to have feelings for, well, a machine.”

“Hey, Danse.”

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.” Nora held the sides of his face and stood on her toes to kiss him. Even without his power armor he towered over her. He was still at first, unsure of what to do, but he quickly snaked his arms behind her to the small of her back and pulled her closer. His dry lips were harsh against her soft ones, but at that moment, Nora didn’t care. In the back of his mind while he told Nora the truth, Danse was sure she’d shoot him down. He had never been so happy to be wrong.

“Ew!” They parted and turned to the side. Shaun stood with a disgusted look on his face. “Don’t do that around me.”

The two laughed, and Nora teased Shaun, “what? Would you rather me kiss you instead?” Nora kissed Shaun’s forehead and he immediately wiped it.

“Gross. I just came over to tell you that Mr. Garvey said he needed to talk to you, but now I’m scarred for life.” She rolled her eyes at her sarcastic son.

“Thanks, buddy.” He nodded and ran off. Nora started walking towards the stairs she built to the roof of the pre-war building, where she knew Preston would be. After a few steps, she realized Danse wasn’t following her. “You coming with me?”

“I don’t think I should, I know he’s not too fond of the Brotherhood.”

“Well his boss,” gesturing to herself, “just happens to be the second highest rank of the Brotherhood. So he’s gonna have to get over it.” She began walking again, this time with Danse following. At the top, Preston was waiting with his signature laser musket in hand. 

“General,” he gave Danse a less than friendly look, “Danse.”

“What did you need, Garvey?”  
“There are some refugees we need you to help resettle.” The only way Preston still talked to Nora after destroying the Institute with the Brotherhood was if she let all of the citizens evacuate first. Nora had no problem with this, after all, she does have a synth son and, well, whatever Danse was to her.

“I’m on it.” Preston marked the location on her Pipboy map and she went to get ready. She went to her shack and got her marine armor from her armor chest and put it on. At the same time, Danse was getting suited up in his power armor. “Jeez, soldier boy, you don’t do anything without that armor. Afraid of a few bullets?”

“Not at all, it’s for intimidation.” Nora rolled her eyes and they started walking to the location. After a few minutes of peaceful silence, Danse questioned, “I meant to ask earlier but, where’d you get that hat? You didn’t have that before.”

“I won it off Mac. He wouldn’t let me have it so I played him in blackjack for it. And let’s just say he was a sore loser.”

A sting of jealousy hit Danse’s heart, he knew they were good friends, but the way he looked at her made him think something different. “You guys are close, right?”

She thought about it for a second, “yeah, I guess you can say that. We’ve been through a lot of the same kind of loss. I lost Nate, he lost Lucy. I almost lost Shaun, he almost lost Duncan. That and he’s one hell of a sharpshooter. Even better than me and not to toot my own horn but, that’s pretty difficult.”

“So you guys were never, like, a thing?”

“A thing?” Nora chuckled, “what are we, teenagers? No we were never ‘a thing’.” He internally sighed in relief, but he wouldn’t let her know that. “I mean, sure we f*cked every once in awhile but that’s all it was.” She knew as soon as the words left her mouth she shouldn’t have said that. “Sh*t, I’m sorry. I seriously have no filter sometimes.”

“It’s alright, I can’t even really be jealous. It’s not like we’re actually anything, are we?” Danse implied, secretly hoping she would challenge that.

She looked at him with those wide green eyes that melted his heart every time and half smiled, “well, we’re kind of ‘a thing’ don’t you think?” Danse’s face lit up, and they continued the trip silently. As they neared their destination, Nora got a gut feeling this wasn’t going to go well.

“I don’t understand, this is the exact spot Preston sent me to, and no one is around.” Suddenly, Nora fell silent, smelled the air and walked away from the road.

“Wait, where are you going?” Danse followed her until she stopped and sighed.

“Our own people got to them first.” They were greeted by 4 smoking piles of ashes, and four dropped Institute rifles.

“Okay, I’ve got two problems with this, first how do you know this was the Brotherhood’s handiwork?”

“Do you know of any other group with an abundance of laser weapons? ‘Cause if so I would love to meet them,” Nora snapped.

“Even if it was them, they were from the Institute, they did what had to be done.”

“They were synth refugees, I was supposed to help them get settled in the Commonwealth, but someone beat me to it and made them part of the scenery.”

“Nora, listen to yourself. They were  **synths** . They didn’t need to be around anyways.”

This had been a touchy subject since she met Father and seen what the Institute was all about. “Synths aren’t the enemy, the Institute was. Do you think they asked to be created? Do you think it’s their fault? Is it your fault you’re alive? Same for Shaun.”

“Jesus, you’re sounding like one of those Railroad eggheads.” She reached one hand out and smacked Danse across the face and turned around to leave. “What the hell, where are you going?” Danse spoke loudly to her.

“Wherever you aren’t.”

“And where do you want me to go?”

“Not my problem right now.” Without turning around, Nora kept walking and left Danse behind. He sighed deeply and headed back for home.


	4. Chapter 4

Nora found herself at the Dugout Inn bar with a bottle of moonshine in her hand. “Don’t you think you should slow down?” Vadim suggested from behind the counter. Nora was already 6 shots into her bottle and had no intentions of stopping.

“‘dOn’T yOu ThInK yOu ShOuLd SlOw DoWn?’” Nora mocked. She could usually hold her liquor, but 6 shots of Bobrov’s Best Moonshine was enough to kill a brahmin. “I’ll stop when I want to.” Her speech was slurred and she was a mess.

Scarlet set her broom aside and walked over, “boss, I can walk her back to her place if you want.”

Vadim shook his head, “if she’s still paying, I’m still supplying.”

After her argument with Danse, Nora felt like getting wasted and couldn’t think of a place better than the Dugout Inn. She had become something of a regular since the first day she showed up in Diamond City, but she would never admit it. But her ability to out-drink Cait made it hard to deny how often she drank. She definitely couldn’t let Danse find out, she was supposed to be a stoic soldier who never drank away her problems.

Speaking of Danse, when Nora stormed off, he decided it would be best to go back to Red Rocket and wait for her there. He waited until almost midnight, with still no sign of Nora. Instead of worrying for another however long she would be gone, he decided to take it into his own hands. He knew she had bought a little home in Diamond City and that she had put a lot of work into making it her own. If Nora was anywhere in the entire Commonwealth, she would be there. The cold New England wind whipped his face as he travelled alone for the first time in a long time. The fact that it was night made it that much worse. Although he would never admit it, the Commonwealth at night creeped him out. It didn’t scare him, he is a man after all, it just gave him a bad feeling.

A few hours of walking later, and Danse was finally at Diamond City. As he walked down the stairs to the main part of the city, he heard a familiar voice. “I thought Vadim said I could stay as long as I was paying?” Nora was being escorted to her house by Scarlet. And by “escorted” I mean basically carried.

“You ran out of caps, you tried to pay him with bobby pins.”

“Hey, those are worth money!”

Scarlet sighed, “I seriously don’t get paid enough.”

Danse shook his head in disappointment as he walked over to the two women. He grabbed Nora under her back and legs and carried her bridal style. “I’ll take it from here,” he affirmed.

“Thank god, you can have her.” Without a further word, Scarlet went back to work and left the two alone.

“Civilian, what have you done to yourself?”

“Put me down!” Nora’s voice echoed through the city. “I am a grown a*s woman and I can walk for myself.”

“If I put you down, you would fall and probably hurt yourself,” Danse refused and continued carrying the drunken mess to her home. “Give me the key.” Nora sluggishly pulled the house key out of her bra and threw it against Danse’s broad chest. He rolled his eyes and unlocked the door, then closed it behind him as he walked in. Gently, he laid Nora down on her bed and covered her with the thin blanket. As he went to go lie down on the couch, felt a dainty hand grab his.

“Stay with me, it’s freezing in here.” Nora was half asleep and already starting to nod off. Knowing he couldn’t disappoint her, Danse kicked off his heavy boots and got into the twin bed with her. Since it was such a small bed, they had to lay extremely close together. Nora was curled up with her back against Danse’s chest. Her hair that was so neat that morning was now a mess right under his nose.

“How does her hair smell so good,” Danse thought to himself, “this is a nuclear wasteland.” He didn’t think too much of it and wrapped his arm around the sleeping Nora to hold her closer. Soon, he too fell asleep on the small bed.

The morning sun peered in through the cracks of the ceiling as the sun came up. Nora woke up, expecting to be alone in bed, but was greeted by Danse’s warm breath on the back of her neck. It was a feeling she hadn’t experienced in years. A bit over 210, actually. Immediately she felt bad for enjoying it and wiggled away from Danse’s arms and got out of bed. “Morning.” He groggily mumbled as he stood up.

Nora rubbed her temples, the hangover was giving her a terrible headache. “What are you doing here?”

Danse saw this as an opportunity to embarrass her as he had himself the night before. “Oh, you don’t remember?” Nora raised one eyebrow in confusion. “You were all over me last night. You begged me to get in bed with you. I struggled just to make you keep your clothes on. Thankfully, you passed out before you became too much of a mess.

She held her face in her hands, “please excuse me while I die of embarrassment.” Danse was shocked that he believed her. He didn’t think she would ever be that type of drunk. She made her way to the refrigerator in the corner and pulled out a purified water. Without coming up for air, she chugged it down and threw the empty can aside. “Anyways, you wanna head back home?” Danse nodded and opened the door for Nora.

As they walked through the gates, they were met by a worried Preston, “General, is everything alright? Why didn’t you come back last night?”

“Calm down, mom, we just crashed in Diamond City.” Nora joked about the situation, but Danse thought Preston’s worrying was more than strictly platonic.

As Nora walked towards her shack, Preston lightly grabbed her arm and stopped her, “at the Dugout in?” his voice was much more compassionate sounding that before and Danse wondered if Garvey knew something he didn’t.

“I’m a grown woman, I can handle myself.” She turned around and walked away again.

“At least tell me what happened to the synths you were supposed to help.”

Without turning around, Nora answered, “all dead. Raiders got to ‘em first.” He sighed and let Nora walk away. Danse followed her inside and shut the busted door behind him.

“I’m starting to get a feeling that it’s more than just a rare occurrence for you to get blackout drunk.” He was tired of being out of the loop and subtly demanded answers.

“If you guys could stop trying to be my parents, that would be great.”

Danse softened his tone and got closer to the angry woman, “you know I only want to know because I care about you. You should know how I feel by now.”

Nora sighed, “Danse, I’m sorry for getting so defensive. But really, you don’t need to worry. If it will make you feel better, I won’t drink so much.

Smiling slightly, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently, “thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get too sappy on me.” They both laughed as Shaun walked in.

“What’s so funny? I wanna know the joke.”

Nora started to explain, “no sweetie--” but she was cut off by Danse.

“I was just telling your mom a joke I heard. A ghoul went to the doctor for a rash and the doctor said, ‘son, that’s just your face.’” Shaun started laughing at the joke and Nora rolled her eyes. “Anyways, buddy, I was just about to come find you and ask if you wanted me to teach you how to use a gun?”

“That sounds awesome!”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, he could get hurt.” Nora was very hesitant to let her 11-year-old son use a gun.

“C’mon, hon, I’ll be right there with him. And besides, it’s never too early to teach a kid how to protect themselves.”

“Please, mom. I’ll be careful I promise.”

They both looked at Nora with wide, puppy dog eyes, “fine, just don’t hurt yourself. That goes to both of you.”

“Thanks, mom!” Shaun excitedly ran outside.

“I wanted some time to get to know the kid.”

“Be careful. Don’t bring him back with any holes in him.”

“I won’t, don’t you worry.” With a quick peck on the lips, Danse joined the boy outside and took him around to the back of Red Rocket.

As if he was waiting for Danse and Shaun to leave, MacCready turned the corner and walked into the shack. “What do you need, Mac?” Nora saw that he had a deck of cards in his hand. “Oh, no. This never ends well.”

“You wanna play a game of Caravan?”

“What’s that?”

“A card game I learned from a trader coming from Nevada. I’ve got a spare deck you can use.”

“What are the stakes?”

“Just the caps you got on ya’. Unless you wanted to make it more interesting.”

“I don’t feel like losing a finger or something, so, caps it is.”

“Fine, should’ve known you’d be too chicken.”

“Aw, screw you, Mac.” Even though she knew this was just him trying to use reverse psychology, Nora gave in, “let’s make it interesting.”

“I win, you give me a little,” he cleared his throat and spoke quieter, “private dance.”

“Jesus, MacCready. Are we college students?”

“Are you in or not?”

“What’s in it for me?”

“If you win, I’ll give you back that picture of you from your college days.” Nora knew exactly what he was talking about. Back in law school, Nora had to find some way to pay for her tuition. She took a job as an “exotic dancer”. One of her friends took a picture of her in her work clothes as a joke and Nora never got rid of the polaroid. MacCready had won it from her in another game not long after they started travelling together. “Sound fair?”

“F*ck it, I’m in.” They sat down at a table and MacCready showed her the ropes. It took a minute, but Nora figured out the rules and how to play. After a few hours, they were both bankrupt and on their last game. Nora threw her cards in defeat as Mac piled his winnings together. “Damn it. I was sure I had that.”

He laughed mockingly, “a deal’s a deal. You owe me a dance.” Just as he said this, Danse walked in with Shaun. “That isn’t the kind of dance I meant.”

“Shaun, why don’t you run off for a minute?” Danse ordered and the boy obeyed. “You’re not getting any kind of dance out of her.” He swept Nora to her feet and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him.

“Hey, man, she made a deal.”

“I don’t care. She’s my woman, got it?” Nora had never seen this sort of possessiveness out of him and honestly, she kind of liked it.

“This is bullsh*t.” MacCready stormed outside and left Nora and Danse alone.

“Why did you make that bet with him.?”

“I thought I would win. And technically, I’m not ‘your woman’.”

“Then I’ll fix that.” He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her outside, for everyone to see. Confused by the quiet commotion, the others had loosely gathered around. Danse fell to one knee.

“Danse, are you doing what I think you’re doing?”

He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a balled hand. “Nora,” he opened his hand which contained a diamond ring, “will you marry me?”


	5. Chapter 5

Nora was in complete disbelief when Danse got down and proposed to her. She saw the diamond ring in his hand. Miraculously, it was in pristine condition and appeared untouched by the nuclear bombs. “Danse…” She was speechless, how could someone she had spent so long viewing as nothing more than a brotherhood soldier, and a great one at that, be proposing to her? “Danse, I-- I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, a yes would be preferred, but a no would work I suppose.”

“Yes. A million, trillion times yes.” Danse stood up and pulled Nora into a tight hug, then spun her around. Nora hadn’t felt the way she did about Danse for so long, she forgot how it felt. Technically, it had only been just under a year since she lost Nate and then woke up from the cryo-sleep, but it was as if the 200 years she was unconscious for counted too. Some people would say that a year wasn’t long enough to get over the death of your spouse, but to Nora, she shouldn’t have to wait to be happy. Sure, she still loved Nate, she was almost sure she would never stop loving him. But she knew there was no way to get him back so she wasn’t going to hold back.

“Man, I’m glad you said yes. It would’ve been a little embarrassing if you didn’t.” Danse held Nora off the ground with his head between her head and shoulder. He gently set her back on the ground and kissed her. Out of the corner of his eye, Danse saw MacCready scoff and walk away. Around them, all of the others had gathered, witnessing the public display. Without letting everyone else hear, Danse whispered into Nora’s ear, “I think someone may be jealous.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean your buddy MacCready just walked off looking a little less than pleased.”

“I’m sure he’s just upset because I didn’t keep my end of the bet.”

Danse dropped the topic but had a feeling in the back of his mind that it was more than that.

Later that day, after everyone had calmed down from the unexpected proposal, Nora was relaxing while Danse was out with Shaun at a makeshift shooting range behind Red Rocket. A slight knock at the door interrupted the strangely peaceful evening. “Hey, General.” Preston was in the doorway, “mind if I come in?”

“Not at all, Garvey. What’s up?”

“I’m worried about you, with this thing with Danse.”

“Preston, I’m an adult, I can make my own decisions.”

“I know, I know. But I’ve known you longer than damn near everyone here, and rushing into marrying someone you barely know doesn’t sound like you.”

“Danse isn’t someone I ‘barely know’, I joined the Brotherhood like-”

“Six months ago. Just about. A month and a half after the vault.”

“It’s been longer than that.”

“Nope. Six months and 9 days technically.” Nora had forgotten, if there was one thing she could always count on Preston for, it was his memory. “And in those short months, how much have you really gotten to know about him?”

“Okay, Garvey, I get it. It seems stupid. But did I start asking questions when you made me the general of the Minutemen 2 days after meeting me? How about 2 weeks later when you decided to storm the castle with a team of only a handful of volunteers?” Preston fell silent and lowered his head, “I don’t talk sh*t when you make rushed decisions, so don’t do it to me.”

With that, Preston ran out of arguments and left the building. Almost immediately following, MacCready walked in. “Hey, boss. Got a minute?”

“Goddamnit, not you too. If you’re here to tell me I’m rushing things you can turn around before I knock your teeth in.”

“No, no. That’s not it.”

“Okay, good. I swear if one more person--”

“I wanted to tell you that you’re making a mistake.”

Nora was shocked by what her friend said. MacCready would often disagree with her on stupid matters, but when it came to important things he always let her call the shots. “What?”

“With Danse, I mean.”

“You just said that’s not why you came in here.”

“No, I said I’m not here to tell you that you’re rushing things, which you aren’t. I just think being with him is a bad idea. I mean, c’mon Nora, the man’s a synth. How can you trust a robot?”

Nora was in utter disbelief, everyone knew how MacCready felt about Danse and that they haven’t ever been friends, but she never thought he would go that far. “Jesus, Mac, why am I not allowed to be happy? I am a damn adult. Let me make my own decisions.”

Seemingly out of nowhere, Danse interrupted, “this guy bothering you, Nora?”

“I was just leaving.” MacCready ended the conversation there and walked out.

Nora threw herself down onto the bed out of frustration. “I swear, I’m gonna end up hurting that guy.” Danse sat next to the upset woman and gently grabbed her arm, “what did he want from you?”

“Doesn’t matter,” she got to her feet and threw her signature hat to the side, “I need a drink.”

“Want me to--” Before he could finish his question, Nora was out the door. With a heavy sigh, he got up to follow her. As he was closing the front gate, Danse heard a feminine voice behind him.

“You should probably let her go.” He turned around and faced Piper, “she likes to be alone when she drinks.”

“Thanks but I’m not gonna let her wander around the wasteland by herself. Who knows what could happen to her.”

“Oh, really? What do you think she did before she met you? Do you think she went from place to place with a bodyguard? She can handle herself, soldier boy.”

Piper knew just how to push Danse’s buttons, it only took a few words out of her to get him upset. “Listen, she’s my girl and I feel like I need to protect her. Now if you’ll mind your own business for once…”

“Yeah, she’s your girl alright. Did your girl tell you about her and MacCready?”

Danse knew that replying to her would only feed her nosey nature, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from arguing, “yeah, she told me. I don’t see how any of this concerns you though.” Once again, Danse turned to start catching up to Nora.

“Did she happen to tell you that he got her a ring too?”

The already fuming man stopped in his tracks and turned to Piper, “what did you just say?” Danse’s usual monotone voice was replaced with pure anger.

Piper grinned internally, knowing she had finally hit just the spot to make Danse snap, “I’ll take that as a no. Well, you didn’t hear it from me but,” she took a few steps closer and lowered her voice, “MacCready proposed to Blue a few months ago. She said yes but she put it off after coming back from her first trip out to the Glowing Sea. According to her, she wanted to spend all of her time and effort finding Shaun. Technically, they never officially broke it off.”

Danse became even angrier than before, he looked about 5 seconds from fighting someone. “Where the hell is he?” Without saying a word, Piper moved to the side and pointed Danse in the direction of MacCready’s shack. He marched his way over there and kicked the shabby door in.

“Woah, what the hell, man? Who sh*t in your Sugar Bombs?”

Danse grabbed the MacCready by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up off the ground. With his feet being several inches off the ground, MacCready was face to face with Danse. “Stay the f*ck away from Nora.”

“Yeah? And what are you gonna do, synth?” MacCready’s voice held an insane level of animosity. Not only towards synths in general but fueled by his jealousy, his envy, of Danse’s relationship with Nora. MacCready was the first person (other than Codsworth and Dogmeat) that Nora agreed to travel with. “I was there first. I was there when she found out that Kellogg took Shaun, then when she blew his brains out. I was with her up until the day she saw that blimp of the Brotherhood’s and decided to help you again. Then she sends me back here to leave with you and it’s like she’s a totally different person.”   
Even though Danse was hearing what MacCready was saying, he was too enraged to care. “Piper told me about you proposing to Nora. I just want you to know that if you get near her again I’ll kick your ass.” Danse lowered MacCready to the ground and stormed off.

MacCready stood, perplexed, for a few minutes after he left. “What is he talking about?” To his knowledge, he never proposed to Nora. “Piper!” As if she was waiting for her queue, the shifter reporter was through the doorway before he finished her name.

“You rang?” A suspicious innocence rang in her voice, as it always did when she knew she caused trouble.

“What did you tell Danse about me and Nora?” MacCready spoke with a mixture of anger and confusion.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mac. You know Danse is a synth, it’s probably just some faulty wiring.” She used the mercenary’s disdain towards synths to her advantage, igniting a spark in him that only further drove his hatred.

“Yeah, I don’t know how she can trust that bucket of bolts. Valentine is one thing, at least he didn’t hide what he is… not that it was really an option.”

Piper shrugged her shoulders silently before leaving MacCready to be alone and confused again.

Back in Nora’s shack, Danse was letting out his anger by hammering out some dents in his power armor. A small voice took him by surprise, “dad? Why is everyone so mean to you here?”

Danse took his attention away from the armor stand and looked at the child standing in the doorway. Shaun’s expression showed so much sympathy that he couldn’t help but be less angry.

“C’mere, buddy,” he sat on the bed and patted next to him, kicking up a cloud of dust in the process, “now, I know this is gonna be the cheesiest parent speech ever but hear me out. People like to pick on other people just because they’re different.” He tried his best to explain to Shaun in terms he could understand while still not revealing that they are both synths. “No one here is used to having someone like me around so they don’t really know how to handle it. Does that make sense?”

Shaun looked puzzled for a moment while he thought, then he nodded rapidly. “I get it. You’re so much bigger than everyone,” when he said this Shaun gestured with his hands just how much bigger he was, “that they’re scared of you and are trying to act tough.”

Danse laughed at the statement, “yeah, that’s exactly it. I knew you were a smart kid.” He messied the boy’s hair with his hand and pulled him into a side hug.

“Don’t worry dad, I know you could beat up everyone here.” Without another word, Shaun ran back outside, passing Nora in the doorway.

A half-smile crept across Nora’s lips, right above the scar on the right side of her face. “I was damn near Lexington before I realized I forgot something.” In one hand she held up a small bag by a drawstring.

“What’s that?” Danse had never seen her with it before and wondered what it had to do with going to Diamond City to get wasted.

Nora opened the velvet bag and pulled out several bottle caps, “my emergency cap stash. Guess moonshine and vodka isn’t much of an emergency, though, is it?”

Danse then remembered what he was upset about before he was distracted, he stood up and met Nora in the doorway. His large soldier body towered over hre petite frame. Without even the slightest positive tone in his voice, Danse brought up what Piper told him, “so your reporter friend told me about you and the hired gun. Why didn’t you tell me before? You said you slept with him but that was all you told me.”

Confusion seemed to be the emotion of the day as Nora thought about what he said, you could almost see the gears turning in her head and the light bulb go off. “Jesus, we end up in the Diamond City jail one time and we never live it down! I swear that barfight was nothing serious. Some guy said some wise remark about my ass and Mac started threatening him. Of course, I ended up kicking his ass myself because I can handle my own problems.”

This time it was Danse’s turn to be confused, “what? No, that’s not what I’m talking about, but we can get to that later. I meant she told me about MacCready proposing, and you saying yes then never actually ending things with him.”

“Huh? Danse this isn’t funny,” Nora crossed her arms over her chest, “don’t make up stuff to be mad at me for.”

“Soldier, I’m not making this up.” He went from normal to paladin voice half a second, just above his average of .3 seconds. “Why were you hiding this?”

“I wasn’t hiding anything!” Her face turned a bright shade of red, not the dust of rose on her cheeks when she blushed, but the wave of crimson when she was about to cause some damage.

Danse’s face was beginning to match the shade of hers as he, too, rose his voice, “so you’re telling me Piper made all this up? Just to piss me off?”

“Yes! That’s what she does!”

“Whatever, I’m leaving.” He stomped out and Nora didn’t even look back at him.

She let out a loud yell in frustration, then balled her fists and punched a wall. “Fine! Stay gone then!”


End file.
